If you own multifamily property in LA, you've probably gotten a pitch from a "retrofit specialist" who inspects your building, hands you a report, and points you toward a contractor. What that pitch usually leaves out: an inspection isn't an engineered plan, and the person who wrote the report probably can't stamp one either.
We're SKS Construction — 39 years in business, fixed-price contracts, and a licensed structural engineer in-house on every project. We're bringing this up because the difference between an inspector and an engineer isn't a technicality. It's the difference between a plan the city accepts and one that gets bounced back.
What an Inspection Actually Is
An inspection identifies a problem. A qualified inspector — using a borescope, a moisture meter, a visual walkthrough — can tell you that your building has a soft story, that your balconies have dry rot, that your foundation is cracked. That's valuable information. It is not, by itself, a path to a permit.
Los Angeles requires retrofit and repair plans to be prepared and stamped by a licensed structural or civil engineer before the city will approve them. An inspection report doesn't carry that stamp. It can't. Inspection and engineering are different licenses, different training, and different legal liability.
Where the Confusion Creeps In
Plenty of firms in this space are inspection-only — they're skilled at finding problems, but they don't have an engineer on staff. So the workflow becomes: inspection company finds the issue, hands you off to a third-party engineer you've never met, who hands you off to a contractor you've also never met. Three companies, three contracts, three points where a miscommunication can delay your permit — or worse, produce a plan that doesn't match what the inspector actually found.
Every handoff is a place where scope gets lost, timelines slip, and costs creep. If your inspector and your engineer never spoke directly about what's actually happening inside your walls, the plan they submit to the city is a guess dressed up as a document.
Why an Engineer-Led Firm Changes the Outcome
Sol Shaolian founded SKS as a former City of LA plan checker — he's reviewed retrofit and repair plans from the inside, which means he knows exactly what gets a submission approved on the first pass and what gets it kicked back for revisions. That perspective shapes how we run every project: our engineers inspect the building themselves, design the fix, stamp the plans, and stay on through construction and city sign-off.
One firm. One engineer of record. No gap between what was found and what gets built.
That's the structural difference between SKS and an inspection-only shop: we're not handing your building off to a stranger halfway through the process. Soft-story retrofits, SB 326 and SB 721 balcony compliance, foundation bolting, structural repairs — every plan set that leaves our office has already been through the eyes of the person who'll defend it to the city.
Get an Engineer's Eyes on Your Building — Not Just an Inspector's
If someone's handed you an inspection report and told you a contractor will "figure out the engineering," ask who's actually stamping the plans. If the answer isn't clear, that's your answer.
SKS Construction will give your building a complimentary evaluation — engineer-led, from the first walkthrough to the final permit. One contract, one team, 39 years of getting it approved the first time.
info@sksconstruction.comCA CSLB License #AB720390(818) 855-1181